EKARD SAYS CITY WORKERS ‘SHELL-SHOCKED’

Another S.D. employee says she has made official complaint

The man running day-to-day operations at City Hall says employees are “shell-shocked” by the mounting allegations of sexual harassment and lurid remarks attributed to San Diego Mayor Bob Filner.

Walt Ekard, one of Filner’s top aides, said a “frenzy” has surrounded City Hall since the first accusations against the mayor were made public nearly a month ago.

“There are employees who are not used to dealing with this kind of thing — there’s some shell shock going on,” Ekard said during an interview on U-T TV Thursday.

Part of the turmoil comes from the crush of reporters descending on City Hall over the past four weeks.

There are “a lot of microphones being stuck in people’s faces that frankly are not used to dealing with the media,” Ekard said during an appearance on the Roger Hedgecock show.

City Hall was relatively quiet on day four of Filner’s self-imposed immersion at an undisclosed counseling center after he admitted to “inappropriate and wrong” behavior while also denying he was guilty of sexual harassment.

But there were developments on several fronts:

• Another woman who says she’s a city employee said in a radio interview that she made an official complaint to the city about improper conduct by the 70-year-old mayor.

• City Council President Todd Gloria is requesting that Filner immediately replace an appointee on the city pension board. That member’s failure to cast a crucial pension vote cost the city $25 million, Gloria said.

The scandal enveloping the mayor is also affecting city business, said Ekard, San Diego County’s former chief operating officer hired by Filner to help run City Hall after the harassment allegations arose.

“There are certainly aspects of city government that have stalled, and one of the things I am here for is to try and break that loose,” said Ekard, the city’s chief operating officer.

Ekard said he has a lot of people coming to him for help in getting city projects off idle.

“It’s really about checking off all of the things that have stalled over time — trying to move them,” said Ekard.

He also said it’s his understanding that Filner is getting daily telephonic reports from his chief of staff, Lee Burdick, while he’s receiving treatment. The mayor did not relinquish any of his authority when he said he would enter a rehab program, saying he would rely on daily briefings to maintain his control over city affairs. The mayor’s office did not return calls seeking comment on how the briefings are playing out and what directives, if any, are coming from Filner.

Uncomfortable encounter

Ekard’s comments came shortly after a woman who identified herself only as “Stacy” told KOGO radio that she filed a complaint after Filner approached her at a city function in the spring, pulled her too close to him and asked her for a date. It appeared that at least one of the radio hosts knew who the woman was and invited her on the show after contact in social media.